Trogg
"We drove the troggs out of Gnomeregan, but then it all went so horribly wrong! Now our home is completely irradiated, and we gnomes have been scattered all over Dun Morogh..." - Felix Whindlebolt, gnome, at AnvilmarQuest:A Refugee's Quandary Troggs (aka the first variant) are a simple humanoid lifeform. They are the first mutation of the Earthen, created by the titan's first' attempt (Series One) to create life from living stone, but the experiment was a failure. Dwarven scholars postulate that the experiment went wrong due to interference from the Old Gods. Troggs were the titans' first attempt at creating a race (the second attempt, Series Two, produced the dwarves.) They retain the strength and rocky composition of the earthen, but vastly reduced cognitive abilities. They are made mostly of rock, and eat anything made of rock, including each other. The Titans considered them an unacceptable mutation, due to their stupidity and cannibalism. They are found mostly in Khaz Modan, but also in Ragefire Chasm. Background The creature is a grotesque parody of a dwarf, with oversized head, bent spine, arms that drag along the ground, and a mouth filled with ragged, oversized teeth. It wears rough, smelly hides and carries a crude club covered with spatters of blood. The creature is barrel-chested and powerfully-built, with a thick forehead and jutting lower jaw. Malicious cunning is apparent in its deep-set eyes. Troggs have a distinctly neanderthal look — low, sloping forehead; thick skin covered with bristly black hairs; and the long arms and bent spines of an ape. Troggs are a barbaric, almost “caveman-like’’ race with very low intelligence but a great capacity for violence of all kinds. They were the titans’ first attempt to create life from living stone, but the experiment was a failure. Dwarven scholars postulate that the experiment went wrong due to the interference of the Old Gods. (The successful second attempt gave rise to the dwarven race.) When the titans saw how brutal and misshapen the troggs were, they buried them in vaults all over the land that would become Khaz Modan. The main vault of troggs was the old Titan city of Uldaman in Khaz Modan. There they stayed for countless ages, until the dwarves began excavating Uldaman. The dwarves dug too deep and released the troggs from their ages-long slumber. Now the troggs have begun to spill out of every deep hole to spread terror across the dwarven kingdom. The troggs have an unnatural hatred of their “pretty” cousins the dwarves. They may be dumb, but they are hell-bent on taking out their aggressions on the dwarves. They are dull-witted and savage, but possess a ferocious cunning that makes them dangerous despite their lack of civilization. Troggs are related to dwarves, but if anything, the two races are distant cousins. Some legends say that both dwarves and troggs descended from the original earthen race left behind by the titans after the world was shaped in ages past. While the dwarves evolved into the stocky creatures known today, the troggs retained a stronger connection to the stone from which they were made. For reasons not yet fully understood, the troggs’ evolutionary path led them to their present state — crude, stupid creatures only barely above the level of beasts. Troggs look and act nothing like their distant cousins, however. They dwell in rocky areas, but don’t mind living above ground if they must. They eat just about anything, supplementing their diet of plants and raw meat with dirt and rocks they crush between powerful, flat teeth. The resulting gravel helps with digestion and is partially absorbed into their bodies, increasing their toughness. Troggs stand about 5 feet tall in their normal hunched-over state, but if they draw themselves fully erect, they exceed 6 feet in height. They weigh around 300 pounds. Troggs do not speak, but can make themselves understood with guttural growls and grunts. Troggs are brutal and cunning in battle (indeed, that is their approach to most things in life). Their flesh is living stone, offering them a useful natural armor. Troggs lack subtlety in combat (or in anything else, or that matter). They typically rush toward the closest opponent and bash it over the head until it dies, then move on to the next victim. A trogg usually begins combat by raging. Troggs are usually barbarians. Warriors and rogues are less common, with healers being the only known spellcasting class (though even they are exceedingly rare). Arcane casters are wholly unknown among the troggs, as are tinkers. Some scholars argue that with proper education a trogg could learn such skills, but so far no one has bothered to try teaching them. While hunter might seem to be a logical class for a trogg, that class is rare among them — apparently these creatures lack the patience required for animal handling. Although an adventuring trogg is not an impossibility, such a creature would have many hurdles to overcome — the primary ones being stupidity and language. Troggs are almost universally brutish, primitive menaces in civilized lands. They are ugly, smelly, barbaric savages that most would sooner kill than look upon. A trogg that could get past these social stigmas would be an exceptional individual indeed. Troggs are stupid. Very stupid. There are not very many trogg casters, only some shamans in Ragefire Chasm. They are usually easy to defeat. While they travel in large groups, they rarely seem to stay close enough together that attacking one will alert the others. Culture Troggs worship the massive reptiles known as salamanders. Troggs will attempt to capture and train young salamanders as mounts. If these primitive humanoids slay or encounter a slain salamander, they will feast on its remains and make crude armor and weapons from its claws, teeth, and hide. Language Troggs do not normally speak, although they can use grunts and bellows to get their messages across. Troggs with exceptional intelligence sometimes learn to speak Low Common; truly gifted individuals might learn Common or Dwarven. Some troggs use Low Common or Dwarven as their primary languages. Tribes * Caverndeep tribe * Gravelflint tribe * Irondeep tribe * Ragefire tribe * Rockjaw tribe * Stonesplinter tribe * Stonevault tribe Notable Leaders * Hammerspine (leads the Rockjaws) * Oggleflint (leads the Ragefires) * Grawmug (lead the Stonesplinters) * Grimlok (leads the Stonevaults) * Angerlok * Grubbis Others * Markilog Speculation Aside from the well known documentation (which could, potentially, have been warped or falsified by some unknown) in the depths of Uldaman, there is, in fact, a witnessed transformation from dwarf to trogg. Several members of the Horde assisted a dwarf known as Feegly the Exiled in acquiring a relic of the titans, excavated from the archaeological dig in Bael Modan, in the southern reaches of the Barrens. Upon receiving the item of his desire, Feegly proceeded to rub the artifact, named by the dwarves to be Tear of the Moon. Chanting "Power! Glorious power!", Feegly was transformed into one of the fearsome troggs. He died moments later, and the Tear of the Moon fell to the ground and shattered, leaving no trace of the mysterious jewel to be studied. It has also been suggested, by some fans, that the gnomes, too, are somehow related to the Troggs. Trivia Trogg is a reference to the word troglodyte or a caveman. The model name for troggs is troglodyte. References Category:Troggs